Pentecost
El Greco, The Pentecost
(1596-1600)
The Birthday of the Church
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:1-4
In early Biblical times, Pentecost was a festival to celebrate agriculture, mostly the wheat harvest. Over time, the Jews set it at fifty days after Passover, and it’s meaning included the celebration of God’s gift of the Torah, the Law. Christians found it easy to convert the holiday of the birth of the Jewish religion to the birthday of the Christian Church. Both holidays celebrate gifts from God, the Law and the Holy Spirit.
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:1-4
In early Biblical times, Pentecost was a festival to celebrate agriculture, mostly the wheat harvest. Over time, the Jews set it at fifty days after Passover, and it’s meaning included the celebration of God’s gift of the Torah, the Law. Christians found it easy to convert the holiday of the birth of the Jewish religion to the birthday of the Christian Church. Both holidays celebrate gifts from God, the Law and the Holy Spirit.
Peter Paul Reubens, The Descent of the Holy Spirit (1610)
Ten days after Jesus had ascended to heaven, Jesus’ followers and disciples (It is said there were 120.), as well as most other good Jewish adult males, gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot and sacrifice the first loaves of the harvest on the temple altar. Jesus’ followers were meeting and praying and suddenly there was a mighty wind, flames appeared over their heads, and they began speaking in many languages and each could understand the other. This is what John the Baptist foretold and Jesus had promised as he ascended would happen. The noise attracted a crowd, and with his newly found authority, Peter is said to have baptized 3,000 people in the name of Jesus that day. From that day forward, Jesus’ followers have spread the good news throughout the world. The events of that Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, dramatically showed the universal nature of God’s word.
You may remember hearing this Sunday called Whitsunday. In England, the weather is still relatively cold and wet during Easter, so Whitsunday was customarily the day for baptisms. The term came from the white clothing worn. In addition to the red paraments, most Episcopal churches have the tradition of wearing red on Pentecost. The red symbolizes the flames that appeared over the disciples’ heads and the fire within their hearts as they spread the gospel. Whitsunday is one of the oldest, continuous Christian celebrations, and is ranked in importance with Easter, Ascension, and Christmas as the moment when God the Holy Spirit claimed its dietyship with God the Father and God the Son. Church tradition expects Episcopalians to receive Holy Communion on this day.
The season of Pentecost is the longest of the Church Year. This year it goes from May 24th through November 28th. The color of the season is green to symbolize growth and new life. It used to be that the green season was called Trinity and the numbering started with the Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday. Now, the Sundays are numbered “the # Sunday after Pentecost.” Many are changing, to the terminology, “the # Sunday in Ordinary Time.” “Ordinary” is referring to “ordinal” which means counted time. It does not mean boring or common. It is, however, at time free from the drama and emotional and spiritual exhaustion of Christmas, Lent, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. It is a time of reflection, and introspection. It is a time to “figure things out,” to find out and develop one’s relationship with the risen Christ, to be grateful, to grow spiritually, and to renew ourselves.
